Speculative Orientalism: Asian Religions in New Wave Science Fiction

Through wide-ranging readings of major New Wave SF writers, Sang-Keun Yoo reveals how imaginations about “Asian civilization” have functioned as a signifier of radical alterity and racialized futurity in what is arguably the most critically significant period of American and British science fiction. Bridging postcolonial theory, Asian American studies, and critical SF studies, this rigorous book reframes the global politics of genre fiction and expands the critical horizons of both ethnic and Asian studies. Speculative Orientalism is essential reading for anyone interested in the cultural politics of science fiction, the racial imaginaries of empire, and the shifting place of traditional religion in speculative world-building * Dr. Sunyoung Park, University of Southern California, USA *
Speculative Orientalism shows how profoundly ideas from Asian cultures transformed Western SF during the influential New Wave era, while adding complexity to our understanding of racialized stereotypes by analyzing this neglected period between the “yellow peril” of early SF and the techno-Orientalism of cyberpunk. Adeptly illustrating the continuing legacies of the speculative Orientalist trope, the book requires us to rethink SF history in light of the significant impact that US military intervention in Asia had on American ways of imagining the future. * Dr. Sherryl Vint, University of California, Riverside, USA *